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Part 2: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17634849/
Part 4: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18466124/
In the decades leading up to Gaaren's escape plan, Drakespire city had fallen on hard times... to put it simply. The economy was struggling, and the expansion of military lands had seen the destruction of countless houses, leaving a fifth of the population without homes of their own. Non-dragon species, who had never been allowed to enter Drakespire, were now being killed on sight instead of being turned away at the city's gates. To add to those problems, a royal decree was created which demanded the population replace the thousands of lives lost in the king's many unjust wars, and while at first the law only forced families to bear more children to serve as future foot-soldiers, it eventually evolved into an evil eugenics policy. Breed mixing, which had been common for nearly a millenium, was heavily controlled, and homosexuality, which was already hated by many, became a punishable crime. After eighty years of such rule, the state's propaganda made murder targets of dragons with "the wrong orientation", forcing them into secrecy, while servant breed dragons became second class citizens... Despite most of the elite, and even the king himself, being born of mixed servant and warrior ancestry. After all, he wanted large, powerful warriors for his army, and unfortunately for Gaaren, he was such a dragon.
Born of one of Drakespire's oldest pure warrior families, Gaaren was indeed large and powerful- Moreso than any other of his kind. So much that because of his towering, eight-foot height, immense natural strength, and gold scales, some believed him to be the incarnation of Drakespire's war god, a gigantic gold dragon, and while most civilians and most of his fellow soldiers didn't take it too seriously, some of the more religious ones did. As a result, Gaaren was never short of followers wishing to serve him, or even fight at his side. Since he was perhaps the best warrior in Drakespire, the leadership sent him to many important battles and in the years he spent in the army, he had taken part in too many missions to count. His success had led to him being rewarded with military influence, a modest amount of land, and of course lots of gold coins, which he mostly gave away. But rewards or not, the gold dragon wanted out of Drakespire. He had grown tired of fighting for the king, and keeping secrets about himself.
Escaping Drakespire was unthinkable to most inside its walls. With the punishment for attempts being death, it was something only the most desperate would consider, and even then, few tried. During the first months when escapes began to happen, there had been nearly a thousand, mostly unsuccessful attempts, but this number quickly dropped to below two dozen a year after the army's best archers were stationed at each city gate. More common, were attempts at desertion by fighters while the army was fighting in enemy lands, but these deserters rarely got away with their lives. To escape the city alive, would require much patience, and a plan. And after several months of organization, that was exactly what Gaaren and his trusted associates had managed to put together.
It was late in the afternoon in Drakespire. The sun was a few hours from setting, and the sky was, almost, without clouds. A normal day for most of the city, but not for Gaaren Goldscales. Inside Gaaren's home, all of the gold dragon's servants were packing their belongings, preparing for their journey out of Drakespire. Each of the three servant dragons had come into Gaaren's ownership at various times, when he was rewarded for his service in the wars, and in the years they had lived with him, they had been safe and happy, as much as a servant dragon could be in Drakespire, anyway. But now, they would finally have the chance to escape the city forever. Maara smiled at the thought.
"Are you two ready to leave?" the dragoness asked her fellow servant dragons. "Remember, master said we might have to leave for the boat yards early tonight. I don't want either of you holding us up." The other two small dragons nodded in response.
"Good", Maara said, a moment before hearing the door knock.
"That must be Faalrin", she thought as she left the servant's bedroom and went downstairs. "I hope he got out of the palace without any problems...". Maara passed two mixed-breed dragons, friends of Gaaren, in the hall, and turned the lock on the large, ten-foot high entrance door, and opened it. But instead of finding the slender, green mix-breed Faalrin, Maara found a rather different dragon. A big, brown-scaled warrior dragon who was not so slender, in fact, quite the opposite. He wore the standard warrior dragon shorts and belt, and carried a large leather backpack on one shoulder.
"Well, you're early, Balgren. Come in, quickly." Maara said. The large brown dragon smiled and stepped through the door.
"Yeah, I figured I would come early. Didn't want to hang around the barracks for my last few hours in the city, " Balgren said, walking into the house and dropping his backpack onto the ground near the entrance. "Where's the big guy?" He asked.
"Master Gaaren is waiting upstairs, Balgren. And with you here, we're just waiting for Faalrin. Everyone else has arrived." The dragoness replied to the warrior who was twice her height.
"Right, right. Lets hope he hurries up." The dragon said, as he approached the staircase and ascended, making the wood stairs creak a little with each footstep.
Balgren found Gaaren's door wide open, and wandered inside, but didn't see the gold dragon anywhere in the large room. Just a small backpack on the bed, surrouded by random items.
"Gaar? You in here, buddy?" He said.
On the other side of the room, a deep voice came out from behind a large bookcase.
"Yeah. Hey, Balgren. You got out early, huh? Were you followed?" Gaaren asked, sounding cautious.
"Followed? Nah. Everone at the barracks thinks I'm about to start my night shift." Balgren answered, walking to the window and looking out. Behind him, the floor vibrated as Gaaren stepped out from behind the bookcase with a small, hardback book in his hand.
"Night shift?" Gaaren said, confused.
"Yeah. I got a temp job at the brewery last week... remember?" The brown dragon scratched his neck.
"...Brewery. Huh, figures", Gaaren replied.
"...Security, Gaar." Balgren said, snorting a small puff of smoke. "They're always wanting warriors to guard that place. 'Course yesterday was my last night on the job, not that anyone knows that."
"Right..." the gold dragon answered, putting the small book onto his huge, twelve-foot bed next to the other belongings. "Anyway, we're still waiting on Faalrin. He should have the papers by now, it's just gonna take time for him to get here from the palace. Once he arrives, we're out of here. You prepared?" Gaaren asked his friend sternly.
"Yeah, 'course I am, Gaar", Balgren huffed.
Gaaren walked over to a small cabinet near his bed and took out a collection of document papers. The gold dragon started reading through them and absent-mindedly scratched his chest .
"Good... hmph. Before we go, you should meet Lyle." Gaaren said, still focused on the document- a map of the dock's building layout and details on operating the dock's gate.
"Lyle... Wait. Your wolf, the ninja? I thought you were joking when you told me we had a ninja on the team, Gaar. Are you messing with me?" The large brown warrior rubbed the back of his head in confusion.
"You know I don't joke." Gaaren replied. "He's on the desk."
"The desk?" Balgren mumbled. "What are you..." the dragon dropped his question and walked over to the wood desk on the other side of the room. If Gaaren was joking, it didn't make any sense and wasn't funny.
The desk only had a map of Drakespire with a route written on, going from Gaaren's house to the docks, that mostly went through unpopulated areas.
"Huh..." Balgren thought as he looked closer, and saw a silver chain and pendant on the other side of the map, as well as something small and black.
"What the..."
The brown dragon neared the desk until his belly was pressing against the edge, and focused on the tiny thing. And it was tiny, at less than a single inch. It moved a little and the warrior dragon recognized the shape, even at such an extreme size difference. A wolf? The wolf looked up to Balgren, and the dragon could make out his uncertain green eyes as they met his gaze, but not much else at the distance- He was just so, so small. Balgren's face took on a somewhat annoyed expression and he reached a hand towards the small form of Lyle, who began to move back, but not quick enough to avoid the gigantic dragon as his thumb and finger firmly grabbed the little black wolf, pinning him between the two digits. Lyle immediately began to squirm, with no use, and the dragon ignored his struggling, lifting the wolf up to his face for a closer look.
"He's not very big, Gaar." Balgren said, looking unimpressed.
The gold dragon briefly turned his head, and responded, "No, he's not, right now", then turned to his documents. "He's bigger when he's not under the effects of shrinking magic."
"Shrink magic, huh? Explains his size..." the brown dragon said.
The tiny wolf kept moving in Balgren's firm hold, but the dragon was apathetic and let him squirm for a few more seconds before bringing Lyle up to his nostrils. The wolf felt a huge blast of wind sweeping over him, as Balgren took a sniff of him. Again, again, and a fourth time he felt the gusty force of Balgren's nose as the dragon took in his scent.
"Does he talk?" The giant dragon asked, holding Lyle only a few inches from his maw.
"Try listening", was Gaaren's only answer. Balgren huffed and focused his sense of hearing on the little wolf, and although quiet, there were words.
"Down! Put me down!" Lyle shouted in his tiny but mostly clear voice, still trying to resist Balgren's hold. The brown dragon kept his eyes on the wolf, and exhaled through his nostrils, blowing air at Lyle before lowering his hand back to the desk. To the wolf's relief, he was released from Balgren's grip and put back on the map where he was before. Balgren let out a puff of smoke and turned away from the desk.
"Hmph," He mumbled, walking away.
Downstairs, Maara heard another knock on the door. The dragoness pushed past one of the other servant dragons on her way to the door. She turned the lock, and opened the door a little, peeking out through the gap. For a moment, she felt her heart skip. In the doorway, was an unknown dragon in a purple, hooded robe. The same purple robes worn by Drakespire's royal inquisitors.
"Ahh..." Maara squeaked. Had the escape plan somehow come to the attention of the authorities? It couldn't be...
"Maara?"
A voice came from within the hood, and after a second, the dragon inside fumbled to fold the hood back, revealing the face of the green, mix-breed dragon inside.
"Oh! Faalrin, you... fool. I thought you were an inquisitor in that robe! Come inside at once."
The teal dragoness opened the door half-way, and Faalrin slipped inside before it was locked shut again.
"Sorry... I needed to steal this thing to get out of the palace. There were more patrols than usual today, but when you're an inquisitor even the elite guards are afraid to stop you. Hah... sorry." Faalrin huffed.
"Nevermind..." Maara sighed. "Just take that dreadful robe off. Master Gaaren is waiting for you upstairs."
"Right", Faalrin whispered, slipping out of the robe and dropping it onto a chair nearby.
With his forged royal shipping documents in hand, the green dragon smiled and began climbing the steps.
Soon, they would all be free.
Another chapter for you readers, brought to you by myself with a LOT of help from the star of this story, Master Gaaren :3 who really helped me figuring out the story.
Comments appreciated!!
Part 4: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18466124/
In the decades leading up to Gaaren's escape plan, Drakespire city had fallen on hard times... to put it simply. The economy was struggling, and the expansion of military lands had seen the destruction of countless houses, leaving a fifth of the population without homes of their own. Non-dragon species, who had never been allowed to enter Drakespire, were now being killed on sight instead of being turned away at the city's gates. To add to those problems, a royal decree was created which demanded the population replace the thousands of lives lost in the king's many unjust wars, and while at first the law only forced families to bear more children to serve as future foot-soldiers, it eventually evolved into an evil eugenics policy. Breed mixing, which had been common for nearly a millenium, was heavily controlled, and homosexuality, which was already hated by many, became a punishable crime. After eighty years of such rule, the state's propaganda made murder targets of dragons with "the wrong orientation", forcing them into secrecy, while servant breed dragons became second class citizens... Despite most of the elite, and even the king himself, being born of mixed servant and warrior ancestry. After all, he wanted large, powerful warriors for his army, and unfortunately for Gaaren, he was such a dragon.
Born of one of Drakespire's oldest pure warrior families, Gaaren was indeed large and powerful- Moreso than any other of his kind. So much that because of his towering, eight-foot height, immense natural strength, and gold scales, some believed him to be the incarnation of Drakespire's war god, a gigantic gold dragon, and while most civilians and most of his fellow soldiers didn't take it too seriously, some of the more religious ones did. As a result, Gaaren was never short of followers wishing to serve him, or even fight at his side. Since he was perhaps the best warrior in Drakespire, the leadership sent him to many important battles and in the years he spent in the army, he had taken part in too many missions to count. His success had led to him being rewarded with military influence, a modest amount of land, and of course lots of gold coins, which he mostly gave away. But rewards or not, the gold dragon wanted out of Drakespire. He had grown tired of fighting for the king, and keeping secrets about himself.
Escaping Drakespire was unthinkable to most inside its walls. With the punishment for attempts being death, it was something only the most desperate would consider, and even then, few tried. During the first months when escapes began to happen, there had been nearly a thousand, mostly unsuccessful attempts, but this number quickly dropped to below two dozen a year after the army's best archers were stationed at each city gate. More common, were attempts at desertion by fighters while the army was fighting in enemy lands, but these deserters rarely got away with their lives. To escape the city alive, would require much patience, and a plan. And after several months of organization, that was exactly what Gaaren and his trusted associates had managed to put together.
It was late in the afternoon in Drakespire. The sun was a few hours from setting, and the sky was, almost, without clouds. A normal day for most of the city, but not for Gaaren Goldscales. Inside Gaaren's home, all of the gold dragon's servants were packing their belongings, preparing for their journey out of Drakespire. Each of the three servant dragons had come into Gaaren's ownership at various times, when he was rewarded for his service in the wars, and in the years they had lived with him, they had been safe and happy, as much as a servant dragon could be in Drakespire, anyway. But now, they would finally have the chance to escape the city forever. Maara smiled at the thought.
"Are you two ready to leave?" the dragoness asked her fellow servant dragons. "Remember, master said we might have to leave for the boat yards early tonight. I don't want either of you holding us up." The other two small dragons nodded in response.
"Good", Maara said, a moment before hearing the door knock.
"That must be Faalrin", she thought as she left the servant's bedroom and went downstairs. "I hope he got out of the palace without any problems...". Maara passed two mixed-breed dragons, friends of Gaaren, in the hall, and turned the lock on the large, ten-foot high entrance door, and opened it. But instead of finding the slender, green mix-breed Faalrin, Maara found a rather different dragon. A big, brown-scaled warrior dragon who was not so slender, in fact, quite the opposite. He wore the standard warrior dragon shorts and belt, and carried a large leather backpack on one shoulder.
"Well, you're early, Balgren. Come in, quickly." Maara said. The large brown dragon smiled and stepped through the door.
"Yeah, I figured I would come early. Didn't want to hang around the barracks for my last few hours in the city, " Balgren said, walking into the house and dropping his backpack onto the ground near the entrance. "Where's the big guy?" He asked.
"Master Gaaren is waiting upstairs, Balgren. And with you here, we're just waiting for Faalrin. Everyone else has arrived." The dragoness replied to the warrior who was twice her height.
"Right, right. Lets hope he hurries up." The dragon said, as he approached the staircase and ascended, making the wood stairs creak a little with each footstep.
Balgren found Gaaren's door wide open, and wandered inside, but didn't see the gold dragon anywhere in the large room. Just a small backpack on the bed, surrouded by random items.
"Gaar? You in here, buddy?" He said.
On the other side of the room, a deep voice came out from behind a large bookcase.
"Yeah. Hey, Balgren. You got out early, huh? Were you followed?" Gaaren asked, sounding cautious.
"Followed? Nah. Everone at the barracks thinks I'm about to start my night shift." Balgren answered, walking to the window and looking out. Behind him, the floor vibrated as Gaaren stepped out from behind the bookcase with a small, hardback book in his hand.
"Night shift?" Gaaren said, confused.
"Yeah. I got a temp job at the brewery last week... remember?" The brown dragon scratched his neck.
"...Brewery. Huh, figures", Gaaren replied.
"...Security, Gaar." Balgren said, snorting a small puff of smoke. "They're always wanting warriors to guard that place. 'Course yesterday was my last night on the job, not that anyone knows that."
"Right..." the gold dragon answered, putting the small book onto his huge, twelve-foot bed next to the other belongings. "Anyway, we're still waiting on Faalrin. He should have the papers by now, it's just gonna take time for him to get here from the palace. Once he arrives, we're out of here. You prepared?" Gaaren asked his friend sternly.
"Yeah, 'course I am, Gaar", Balgren huffed.
Gaaren walked over to a small cabinet near his bed and took out a collection of document papers. The gold dragon started reading through them and absent-mindedly scratched his chest .
"Good... hmph. Before we go, you should meet Lyle." Gaaren said, still focused on the document- a map of the dock's building layout and details on operating the dock's gate.
"Lyle... Wait. Your wolf, the ninja? I thought you were joking when you told me we had a ninja on the team, Gaar. Are you messing with me?" The large brown warrior rubbed the back of his head in confusion.
"You know I don't joke." Gaaren replied. "He's on the desk."
"The desk?" Balgren mumbled. "What are you..." the dragon dropped his question and walked over to the wood desk on the other side of the room. If Gaaren was joking, it didn't make any sense and wasn't funny.
The desk only had a map of Drakespire with a route written on, going from Gaaren's house to the docks, that mostly went through unpopulated areas.
"Huh..." Balgren thought as he looked closer, and saw a silver chain and pendant on the other side of the map, as well as something small and black.
"What the..."
The brown dragon neared the desk until his belly was pressing against the edge, and focused on the tiny thing. And it was tiny, at less than a single inch. It moved a little and the warrior dragon recognized the shape, even at such an extreme size difference. A wolf? The wolf looked up to Balgren, and the dragon could make out his uncertain green eyes as they met his gaze, but not much else at the distance- He was just so, so small. Balgren's face took on a somewhat annoyed expression and he reached a hand towards the small form of Lyle, who began to move back, but not quick enough to avoid the gigantic dragon as his thumb and finger firmly grabbed the little black wolf, pinning him between the two digits. Lyle immediately began to squirm, with no use, and the dragon ignored his struggling, lifting the wolf up to his face for a closer look.
"He's not very big, Gaar." Balgren said, looking unimpressed.
The gold dragon briefly turned his head, and responded, "No, he's not, right now", then turned to his documents. "He's bigger when he's not under the effects of shrinking magic."
"Shrink magic, huh? Explains his size..." the brown dragon said.
The tiny wolf kept moving in Balgren's firm hold, but the dragon was apathetic and let him squirm for a few more seconds before bringing Lyle up to his nostrils. The wolf felt a huge blast of wind sweeping over him, as Balgren took a sniff of him. Again, again, and a fourth time he felt the gusty force of Balgren's nose as the dragon took in his scent.
"Does he talk?" The giant dragon asked, holding Lyle only a few inches from his maw.
"Try listening", was Gaaren's only answer. Balgren huffed and focused his sense of hearing on the little wolf, and although quiet, there were words.
"Down! Put me down!" Lyle shouted in his tiny but mostly clear voice, still trying to resist Balgren's hold. The brown dragon kept his eyes on the wolf, and exhaled through his nostrils, blowing air at Lyle before lowering his hand back to the desk. To the wolf's relief, he was released from Balgren's grip and put back on the map where he was before. Balgren let out a puff of smoke and turned away from the desk.
"Hmph," He mumbled, walking away.
Downstairs, Maara heard another knock on the door. The dragoness pushed past one of the other servant dragons on her way to the door. She turned the lock, and opened the door a little, peeking out through the gap. For a moment, she felt her heart skip. In the doorway, was an unknown dragon in a purple, hooded robe. The same purple robes worn by Drakespire's royal inquisitors.
"Ahh..." Maara squeaked. Had the escape plan somehow come to the attention of the authorities? It couldn't be...
"Maara?"
A voice came from within the hood, and after a second, the dragon inside fumbled to fold the hood back, revealing the face of the green, mix-breed dragon inside.
"Oh! Faalrin, you... fool. I thought you were an inquisitor in that robe! Come inside at once."
The teal dragoness opened the door half-way, and Faalrin slipped inside before it was locked shut again.
"Sorry... I needed to steal this thing to get out of the palace. There were more patrols than usual today, but when you're an inquisitor even the elite guards are afraid to stop you. Hah... sorry." Faalrin huffed.
"Nevermind..." Maara sighed. "Just take that dreadful robe off. Master Gaaren is waiting for you upstairs."
"Right", Faalrin whispered, slipping out of the robe and dropping it onto a chair nearby.
With his forged royal shipping documents in hand, the green dragon smiled and began climbing the steps.
Soon, they would all be free.
Another chapter for you readers, brought to you by myself with a LOT of help from the star of this story, Master Gaaren :3 who really helped me figuring out the story.
Comments appreciated!!
Category Story / Macro / Micro
Species Western Dragon
Size 129 x 156px
File Size 22.1 kB
Comments